


Oni and Rasetsu

by Tianmeihua



Category: Hakuouki
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 22:34:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7407823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tianmeihua/pseuds/Tianmeihua
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yûna, a Western Oni, travels to Japan to join the Shinsengumi for mysterious reasons. She shows a strong interest for Sannan's research on the Ochimizu. It seems that only the secretary-general will be able to uncover her real motives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oni and Rasetsu

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Oni et Rasetsu](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/211945) by Tianmeihua. 



> This is a translation of my story Oni et Rasetsu. I originally published both versions on Fanfiction.net. I decided to publish it here as well in order to make it available for a larger public. 
> 
> English is not my mother tongue, so I apologize for any mistakes I might have done. Please let me know if you spot any mistake or if you have a suggestion on how I could improve my style, or simply to tell me whether you liked this story. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any character, except Yûna and Makoto-san. The characters belong to Idea Factory. For reasons of cohesion with the original storyline, I had to use certain dialogues from the Otome games and/or the anime and/or movies. 
> 
> Enjoy!

# Oni and Rasetsu

### Chapter 1: The Nishi Hongan-ji

On a summer morning of spring 1865, a young and fair-skinned woman was walking at a slow but determined pace across the Japanese countryside. As she was passing by, workers from the rice fields gave her suspicious looks. Although her clothes were made of the best Japanese fabric available, their European cut was surprising to the people she met on her way. Indeed, she was dressed as a man. Where she was from, her green and black jacket, her white shirt and dark trousers could not have been deemed appropriate for a woman either. Yet, this unusual traveler did not seem to care about the suspicion of the Japanese people towards Gaijin in these troubled times. Her only luggage was a leather bag and a naginata.

The closer she got to Kyoto, her look grew more grave. When the wall protecting the city appeared in the distance, she stopped, and put on a haori on top of her clothes. After adjusting her conic hat to protect her from the sun – and from being seen -, she continued her progression towards the city she had seen so many times in her dreams.

Several carts and kago came and went through the wide entrances of the city. The traveller decided to enter Kyoto via one of the secondary entrances instead. After walking through the red doors guarded by stone sculptures of some deity or demon unknown to her, she was stunned by the beauty of the delicate architecture of the capital. She sighed and a shadow of sadness darkened her eyes. As she was standing a few metres away from the doors, she heard someone screaming at her.

“You there!” yelled one of the guards.

She stopped and turned around to face the man. He was looking at her with a look of disdain and mistrust upon his face. Most people would have been scared of him, but Yûna only felt annoyed at being so violently interrupted in her thoughts.

“Where are you from? What are you doing in Kyoto?” said the man in a threatening way.

The young woman saw two other guards stepping closer to the first one. She decided to simply answer:

“My name is Yûna. I came to Kyoto to pray at the Kiyomizu-dera temple”.

“The temple of Kiyomizu-dera eh? And why would a stranger come to Kyoto to pray… while carrying a weapon?”

“Well sir, streets are not always safe, especially for a woman travelling on her own. Even the most pious souls have to protect themselves. However, if you doubt my intentions, you are more than welcome to keep my naginata with you. I will only stay here for a day or two at most. Why don’t you hold on to it until I come back to claim it and leave? I rest assured I can entrust you with it, and that once within these walls I shall not fear anything anymore… Thanks to you and your companions”. As she was pronouncing these last words, she smiled at the soldiers and gave them her spear.

The three men looked at each other for a second, trying to decide silently what to do with this foreigner. It did not take long for them to decide that this charming young lady would probably not cause them any trouble. The first guard took the naginata.

“Very well. Move along!”

After Yûna disappeared from his sight, the guard examined the blade. He was wondering how such a beautiful object came to be owned by a stranger. He had rarely seen a weapon made with such skill. His doubts, which had vanished upon seeing Yûna’s smile, came back almost immediately. He promised himself he would keep an eye on her. He put the naginata on a box behind him, and the two other soldiers returned to their patrol. The first soldier suddenly had the strange feeling that someone or something was behind him. He turned around but didn’t see anyone. However, the naginata was gone. He called:

“Guards! Guards! Search Kyoto! Find the foreign woman!”

His first intuition that this strange person wasn’t in Kyoto to pray found itself confirmed. While another one would have found useless to worry about the actions of a woman along in a city unknown to her, he felt he had to arrest her as soon as possible. However this was but a lost cause. A few streets away from there, hidden behind a cart, Yûna was observing the guards leaving in the wrong direction. She raised her eyes towards the roofs and filled her lungs with fresh air.

“Kyoto…”

She started walking along the walls, trying to find her way across the labyrinth of the streets of the capital. She was taking note of every single detail of the configuration of the city, creating a mental map of Kyoto. After what seemed to her like hours, she spotted a tall and elegant building.

“There we are. The Nishi Hongan-ji, the Shinsengumi’s general quarters.”

 


End file.
